WO1998025237A1

WO1998025237A1 - Methods and apparatus for regenerating a prepaid transaction account

Info

Publication number: WO1998025237A1
Application number: PCT/US1997/020375
Authority: WO
Inventors: John M. Taskett
Original assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
Priority date: 1996-12-06
Filing date: 1997-11-12
Publication date: 1998-06-11
Also published as: US5991748A; AU7627098A

Abstract

An improved system for 'regenerating' or adding funds to a prepaid, remote memory account. The system includes a service provider network or host computer system including an account database of prepaid accounts. An integrated transaction card is issued to a consumer. One side of the card shows a prepaid telephone card for accessing the host computer system and an authorization code that allows access to the account database. The other side of the integrated transaction card is a transaction instrument, such as a prepaid transaction card, credit card, debit card, or the like. Information relating to the transaction instrument is stored at the host system so that a consumer may transfer funds from the transaction instrument to the prepaid phone card without the host system having to prompt the consumer for the necessary transfer information.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REGENERATING A PREPAID TRANSACTION ACCOUNT

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, generally, to a transaction card for

purchasing goods or services and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus

for transferring funds or prepaying a transaction card and its associated remote

memory account.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Known remote memory, prepaid accounts are used to purchase goods and

services and involve a printed transaction card constructed from plastic or

cardboard and bearing a unique authorization or account number and

instructions for accessing funds, services, and the like. The other side of the

transaction card includes a non-functional photograph, drawing or other

aesthetically-pleasing image.

Known remote-memory, prepaid cards have been used extensively

throughout the world. One example is a prepaid telephone calling card that

includes a toll-free telephone number and dialing instructions for accessing a

host computer system. A unique authorization code is typically associated with

each remote account. When a calling party uses the card to place a long

distance call, the toll-free number is dialed, thereby accessing the host system

which manages the remote accounts. The calling party enters a predetermined

authorization number for allowing access to the database. The calling party then enters a long distance telephone number, whereupon the system connects the

calling party with the desired calling destination. The long distance telephone

charges attributed to the telephone call are deducted from the account balance.

The call connection may be terminated by the calling party or by the host system

when the account is fully consumed. Generally, when the prepaid account

balance is depleted, the user must discard the spent card and purchase a new

card.

Such known prepaid cards are disadvantageous because the need to

constantly purchase new prepaid cards is burdensome to the consumer.

Discarding spent cards is also wasteful and harmful to the environment. Known

prepaid card systems are also costly because new cards must be produced and

distributed.

Other known schemes provide prepaid cards capable of being regenerated

by increasing the account balance. Typically, a consumer regenerates the card

by connecting to the host computer, entering a credit card number and expiration

date, home zip code, and a regenerate amount. The consumer then directs the

host system to withdraw funds from the credit card and deposit the funds into the

prepaid card account.

The known method for regenerating prepaid phone cards is

disadvantageous because the consumer must enter a cumbersome amount of

data from the telephone. A high risk of erroneously entered data is also present.

Moreover, regenerating must take place before or after placing phone calls.

Known prepaid calling cards do not allow a card to be regenerated during a phone call connection to a called destination or in response to a host system's

notification that the account balance is about to be depleted.

Thus, there exists a long-felt need to provide a new prepaid calling card

that permits that account balance to be regenerated more efficiently, effectively

and with less risk of error. The present invention overcomes the disadvantages

associated existing prepaid calling cards, providing the consumer with a new and

much improved system for regenerating an integrated prepaid calling card

instrument.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for regenerating

a prepaid telephone card. By "regenerating" it is meant that funds are

transferred or otherwise added to a prepaid account. The system includes a

service provider network, or host system, comprising a database of prepaid

accounts. An integrated transaction card, e.g., a prepaid phone card, is issued

to a consumer. The host system has accessible stored data relating to a funds

source for regenerating a particular phone card. That stored data allows the

caller to regenerate the prepaid card without having to provide such information

at the time of regeneration.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, one side of

the transaction card shows a prepaid telephone card having a telephone number for accessing the host system and an authorization code for allowing access to

the account database. The other side of the card is a transaction instrument,

such as a prepaid instrument, a credit card, a debit card, or the like. Information relating to the transaction instrument is stored in the host system memory so that

a user of the card can conveniently regenerate the telephone card. Funds are

deducted from the transaction instrument and added to the telephone card

without requiring the user to enter any information relating to the transaction

instrument. More preferably, the transaction instrument may be used

independently of the phone card to purchase other goods or services.

In one embodiment, the transaction instrument is issued in conjunction with

the prepaid phone card. Alternatively, the transaction instrument is selected by

the consumer and registered with the host system. Future transactions are

facilitated by initially authorizing the host system to transfer funds from the

transaction instrument to the phone card.

In another embodiment, the prepaid phone card is recharged during a

phone call connection. A consumer is notified during a phone connection to a

called party when the account balance of the phone card depletes to a

predetermined amount. At such time, the consumer recharges the phone card

by pressing a key or keys on a telephone keypad to indicate an amount of funds

to be transferred to the phone card from the associated transaction

instrument(s). The host system can recharge the phone card without any more information or customer input because that information is stored in the host

system. Once the funds are transferred to the prepaid phone card, the customer

is reconnected to the called party. Preferably, the connection to the called party

is maintained throughout the recharge sequence. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention are hereinafter

described in conjunction with the appended drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1A shows a frontal view of a first integrated transaction card;

FIG. 1 B shows a frontal view of a second integrated transaction card;

FIG. 2 shows a rear view of an integrated transaction card;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an integrated transaction card used

with a prepaid telephone service system ;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a host computer system;

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of a memory sector having a plurality of

account data records;

FIG. 5B is a detailed schematic diagram of an account data record shown

in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart showing a sequence for regenerating a

phone card; and,

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart showing another sequence for regenerating

a phone card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It will be appreciated that the present invention broadly contemplates

virtually any type of prepaid transaction instrument. For a more thorough

discussion of prepaid transaction instruments and prepaid telephone cards, the

reader is referred to the following Unites States patent applications filed and

pending in the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Serial number 08/456,525 entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Providing a Prepaid, Remote

Memory Customer Account," filed June 1 , 1995 by John Taskett; serial number

08/458,715 entitled "Refundable Prepaid Telephone Card," filed June 1 , 1995

by John Taskett; serial number 08/503,071 entitled "Method and Apparatus for

Generating Summaries of Prepaid Instrument Transaction Activity," filed on July

14, 1995 by John Taskett; serial number 08/510,590 entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Providing a Prepaid, Remote Entry Customer Account for the

Visually Impaired," filed on August 2, 1995 by John Taskett and Barbara Piernot;

serial number 08/510,196 entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Providing a

Prepaid, Remote Entry Customer Account for the Hearing Impaired," filed on

August 2, 1995 by John Taskett; serial number 08/551 ,814 entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Providing a Prepaid, Remote Entry Customer Account Having

Multiple Language Capability," filed on November 7, 1995 by John Taskett; serial

number 08/612,256 entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Providing a Prepaid,

Remote Entry Customer Account with Transaction Card and Corresponding

Voice Indicia," filed on March 7, 1996 by John Taskett; serial number entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Language Registration of Prepaid, Remote

Entry Customer Account," filed on by Jerry Thomas; and serial

number entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Improved Paging

System," filed on October 16, 1996 by John Taskett and Chuck Chamberlain,

whereby the subject matter of each patent application is incorporated herein by

reference.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a first side of an exemplary integrated transaction

card 100 comprises a prepaid transaction card 205 used by the consumer to purchase gasoline, groceries, hotel rooms, meals, or various other products or

services. The prepaid account balance is stored in a host computer 308. When

the consumer uses prepaid card 205 to make a purchase, the host computer 308

deducts the amount of the purchase from the then current account balance.

Prepaid card 205 includes indicia 202 which may be a photograph, drawing

or other design. A fund value 204 is printed on prepaid instrument 205 to

indicate the initial value associated with the instrument. The fund value 204 may

be in U.S. currency, card units, credits, or the like. The value of card 205

fluctuates according to whether funds have been added or withdrawn.

As shown in FIG. 1 B, an integrated transaction card 100 includes a credit

card or charge card 205, for example an American Express Platinum card.

Credit card 205 may be used by the consumer to make ordinary credit card

transactions. Preferably, credit card 205 includes a visual indicia 202 such as a photograph, drawing, or other design. The credit card 205 includes an account

number 209 used in ordinary credit or charge card transactions, an issuer name

208, and a consumer name 210.

As shown in FIG. 2, the integrated transaction card 100 also includes a

prepaid telephone card 105. Prepaid telephone card 105 includes an access

telephone number 140 for accessing the host computer 308 system and an

authorization code 142 for associated with an account database 310. An access

telephone number 140 may be a toll-free 800 number, a 900 number, a local

phone number or the like. Authorization code 142 is preferably unique to a

particular telephone card 105. Authorization code 142 is a predetermined

number printed on telephone card 105 before being issued to the consumer. Alternatively, code 142 is selected by the individual and stored in the account

database 310 of the host computer 308.

Card 105 suitably bears printed instructions which instruct the user to dial

access number 140 to access the host computer 308. The host computer 308

maintains the account that has funds withdrawn or otherwise consumed as a

consequence of the telephone calls placed with the phone card 105. Phone

card 105 then instructs the user to enter an authorization code 142. A bar code,

magnetic strip or other suitable indicia (not shown) may be exhibited on phone card 105. Such indicia allows the authorization code 142 to be read by a bar

code reader or other scanning device alleviating the need for manual entry of

authorization code 142. The user is then instructed to dial a desired destination

telephone number either in the United States or other countries. Card 105 may

also include instructions for placing additional calls.

Telephone card 105 further provides instructions 114 for speed-dialing and

for contacting customer service. Additional indicia 110, 130 are printed on the

phone card 105 showing trademarks, service marks or advertising.

Prepaid telephone card 105 further includes an instruction 112 for

regenerating the card 105 with additional currency or units. In accordance with

a preferred embodiment, the user regenerates the account corresponding to

card 105 while connected to a the host computer 308 via a service provider

network or during a call connection to a third party. For example, by entering

"*0" from the telephone keypad when connected to the service provider or during

a call connection, a regeneration menu is accessed to transfer funds from the

transaction instrument 205 to the prepaid phone card 105. All information necessary for transferring funds (e.g. identification number, expiration date, and

the like) is stored in the database 310 at the service provider network. As a

result, the caller does not have to re-enter the information when regenerating the

card 105.

The service provider network prompts the caller to enter the amount of

funds to be transferred from instrument 205 to phone card 105. The caller

suitably enters the amount on the phone keypad. In an alternative embodiment,

the caller speaks the amount into the telephone whereupon a voice recognition

circuit in the service provider network recognizes and interprets the verbal

command.

Alternatively, a predetermined amount of funds can be transferred by

entering, for example, "^*0." The predetermined amount is suitably transferred

from the account associated with instrument 205 to the account associated with

card 105. In another embodiment, the host system withdraws funds from the

transaction instrument 205 and regenerates prepaid card 105 as appropriate

without requiring the caller to authorize each withdrawal.

As shown in FIG. 3, phone card 105 may be used in a telecommunications

network that includes a host computer 308 having a memory database 310. A

calling party module 306 communicates with host computer 308 along a

communications link 322. Preferably, caller module 306 comprises a

conventional telephone having a keypad 316 and/or an input/output module 318

for reading bar code data, magnetic strip data, or data transferred by any other

suitable medium. The incoming call is routed to the host computer 308 by way

of a Local Exchange Carrier ("LEC") 320. Host computer 308 routes the incoming call through communications link 324 to a destination 312. The call connection is monitored by the host computer 308.

Host computer 308 includes telephone switching equipment suitable for

connecting local and long distance telephone calls. Alternatively, host computer

308 may be connected to a remote long distance carrier (not shown) to complete

long distance telephone calls. The host computer 308 includes suitable

hardware and software for performing the functions set forth herein.

As shown in FIG. 4, host computer 308 suitably includes an incoming call

trunk 410, a central processing unit ("CPU") 406, and a memory unit 409, for

example, a read only memory ("ROM"), a random access memory ("RAM"), or

the like. The system further includes a database 310 and an account database

420. The memory 409 and databases 310 and 420 may suitably comprise a

compact disk-recordable ("CD-R"), a tape drive, other recordable media, or

combinations thereof suitably accessible by processor 406.

The database 310 includes an account database 420 for storing

information relating to the prepaid account associated with calling card 105. For

example, the identification number, expiration date, and like information may be

stored in database 310 or, preferably, in account database 420. Alternatively,

the user can register the transaction instrument 205 with the host computer 308

to facilitate faster regeneration transactions. In that case, funds are deducted

or withdrawn from transaction instrument 205 and transferred to calling card 105

without entering information relating to the funds source (e.g. the transaction

card 205). Such information is stored in database 310 or database 420. The

user simply instructs the host computer 308 to transfer funds from instrument 205 to card 105 in each transaction. In that case, the user simply presses the

key(s) on keypad 316 to indicate the amount of funds to be transferred to phone

card 105.

Alternatively, host computer 308 may be equipped with voice recognition

circuitry configured to recognize amounts spoken into telephone 306. The host

system 308 can also automatically withdraw funds from the transaction

instrument 205 and regenerate prepaid card 105 without requiring the consumer

to independently authorize each withdrawal.

With continued reference to Figure 4, trunk 410 suitably includes one or

more incoming telephone lines 412(a)-412(c) each corresponding to a phone number, such as an 800 number, a 900 number, a series of numbers, or the like.

An incoming line 412(a)-(c) may also be used to process phone calls in one or

more additional foreign languages such as Spanish. Accordingly, host computer

308 is configured to accommodate a large number of incoming telephone lines

thereby facilitating particular feature sets. More particularly, host computer 308

may be suitably configured to process incoming calls from a wide variety of caller

hardware configurations including personal computers, voice telephone

extensions, facsimile machines, modems, TTY and TTD devices, and the like.

Host Computer 308 may also be configured to process various incoming

calls as a function of the anticipated hardware and other characteristics

associated with the incoming call. In addition, the incoming lines may be

configured to process incoming calls based on non-hardware configurations,

such as the type of service provided to a particular clientele. The processor 406

is suitably configured to retrieve appropriate software modules from memory 409 to appropriately access prepaid accounts in database 310, place and process

phone calls, or other appropriate tasks.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the account database 310 suitably includes a plurality

of data records 504(a)-504(n) relating to the various accounts maintained by

host computer 308 in database 310. More particularly, the data records 504(a)-

(n) suitably includes account data pertaining to the phone card 105. The data

records further include information for transferring funds from corresponding

transaction instrument 205 to card 105.

As shown in FIG. 5B, each data record 504 suitably embodies a plurality

of fields 506, 508, 510, 512, 514, 516, 518 corresponding to various parameters

associated with each account. For example, a first field 506 may correspond to

the authorization number 142 of calling card 105. A second field 508 may

include the initial value of phone card 105 when issued to the consumer. A third

field 510 may indicate the current balance of the account associated with card

105. A field 512 suitably indicates whether transaction card 205 is a prepaid

card, a debit card, an American Express™ credit card, or other credit card

associated with the calling card 105. A field 514 suitably corresponds to the

authorization or identification number of transaction card 205. A field 516

includes the expiration date of transaction card 205 or other information

necessary for transferring funds from card 205 to prepaid card 105. One or

more additional fields 518 may include additional information necessary to

accommodate other data associated with the cardholder, the account, and the

like. As shown in FIG. 6, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a

method and apparatus for regenerating a prepaid phone card when the caller-

customer is connected to the host computer 308. The method may be

implemented entirely with hardware such as digital devices and logic circuits.

5 Preferably, a computer-readable program code is stored, at least in part, in a

memory 409 in the host computer 308. The program code is executed by CPU

406.

A caller uses calling station 306 to dial access number 140 on calling card

105. Once host system 308 is connected to calling station 306 as shown at

0 block 602, host computer 308 executes block 604 prompting the caller for the

authorization number 142. The prompt may be a tone that the subscriber

recognizes as a prompt for account code 142 or audio instructions requesting

the subscriber to input account code 142. Alternatively, it may be desirable to

enter the access phone number 140 and account code 142 through the

5 input/output module 318 of phone 306. For example, a bar code containing both

phone number 140 and account number 142 are scanned into calling station 306

with a bar code reader.

At block 606, the host computer 308 accesses account database 310 and

determines if account code 142 is valid. If account code 142 is not valid, the

o host computer 308 determines if the number of incorrect authorization number

entries attempted for that call has reached a preset limit. Host system 308 may

terminate the connection between telephone 306 and host system 308 if the limit

is reached. If the preset limit has not been reached, host computer 308

executes block 602 prompting the caller to enter a valid authorization code 142. Upon entry of a valid authorization number 142, host computer 308

executes block 610 prompting the caller to make a selection from the calling

menu. The calling menu includes options such as placing a domestic/international phone call; selecting the speed dialing feature; connecting

5 to a customer service representative; checking the account balance associated

with calling card 105; or regenerating the account associated with phone card

105. At block 612, host system 308 executes the caller's selection. If the

regeneration option was selected at block 614, host system 308 executes the

requested function and executes block 618 prompting the caller for an amount

o to be regenerated. If the caller selects another option, the computer 308

executes block 616 retrieving the appropriate menu.

To regenerate the card 105, the host computer 308 prompts the caller with

"press one to purchase $10 of calling time, press two to purchase $20 of calling

time, press three to purchase $30 of calling time ..." and so on. Alternatively, the

5 caller enters the amount of money or units to purchase by pressing the

corresponding number or series of numbers on the phone keypad and then

entering the pound sign ("#") to signal completion.

It will be appreciated that other methods of entering the amount of funds

to be transferred are also possible. For example, voice recognition circuitry in

o host system 308 will allow a caller to speak the amount of funds to be transferred

into the telephone 306. Alternatively, each depression of a key may signal the

transfer of a predetermined increment (e.g. $10).

Host system 308 executes block 620 regenerating card 105 by finding the

data record corresponding to the particular account code 142 by searching a predetermined field (e.g., field 506) of data records 504(a)-504(n). Once the

appropriate data record is found, host computer 308 retrieves the necessary

information from fields 512, 514, 516 relating to the transaction instrument 205

and transfers the selected amount of funds to telephone card 105.

Subsequently, account balance 510 is updated to reflect the fund transfer. Once

the account is regenerated, host system 308 executes block 610 prompting the

user for the next appropriate action (e.g., placing a long distance phone call).

The user may terminate the connection with host system 308 anytime by simply

hanging up the receiver of phone 306.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7. With

reference to FIGS. 1-5, the method allows a user to regenerate phone card 105

during a phone call connection to a third party to prevent disconnection.

Disconnection may occur if the running account balance in field 510 drops to

zero or below some other predetermined value. Once the caller connects to the called party shown in block 702, host

computer 308 executes block 704 monitoring the call connection. As the call in

monitored, the host computer 308 continuously decreases the balance of

account 142 throughout the duration of the call connection. As the account 142

decreases, the host system 308 executes block 706 to monitor whether the

account balance has dropped to a level whereby only enough funds remain to

pay for 1 minute. When only one minute (or some other predetermined amount

of time or money) remains, the host computer 308 executes block 708 warning

the caller of the time remaining before disconnecting the call. The warning may an audible beep, a recorded voice announcement (e.g., "You have one minute

of time remaining"), or any other suitable means for informing the user.

After the caller has been warned, the host computer executes block 710

prompting the caller to regenerate the phone card 105. The prompt may be any

of the following messages: "Press one to purchase $10 of calling time; two to

purchase $20 of calling time; three to purchase $30 of calling time ..." and so on.

At that point, the caller executes block 712 inputting the amount to regenerate card 105. Host computer 308 executes block 714 finding the data record

corresponding to the particular account code 142 by searching field 506 of data

records 504(a)-504(n). Host system 308 then retrieves the necessary

information from fields 512, 514, 516 relating to associated transaction

instrument 205. The running balance field 510 is updated.

After the running balance is updated, the host computer executes block

714 regenerating account 142 with the proper amount of funds. Host computer

308 returns and executes block 704 monitoring the call connection. In a

preferred embodiment, the call connection between the caller and called party

is not disconnected during the regenerating process.

Preferably, the integrated transaction card is constructed from paper,

plastic, cardboard or any other durable or convenient material. More preferably,

the integrated transaction card is plastic having a length in the range of 8.5-8.7

cm, a height in the range of 5.3-5.5 cm, and a thickness in the range of 0.65-

0.85 mm. The integrated transaction card has two sides. One side includes a

transaction instrument such as a credit card, debit card, prepaid instrument, or the like. The other side includes a prepaid card such as a prepaid telephone

card.

Although the present invention is set forth herein in the context of the

appended drawing figures, it should be appreciated that the invention is not

limited to the specific forms shown. Various other modifications, variations, and

enhancements in the design and arrangement of the integrated transaction card,

prepaid telephone card, host computer system, transaction instrument, and the

like as set forth herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope

of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for regenerating a prepaid phone card having an

account balance, comprising the steps of:

providing an integrated transaction card having a prepaid phone card

feature and a transaction instrument feature associated therewith;

electronically establishing a prepaid call session by connecting a calling

party, using said prepaid phone card feature, with a host computer and a third

party; and, transferring funds from said transaction instrument feature to said phone

card feature during said prepaid call session.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

issuing a warning to said calling party when a first account associated

with said prepaid phone card feature is one minute from reaching a fund

value of zero.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transaction instrument

feature comprises at least one of a debit card, a credit card, and a charge

card, further including the step of:

validating said transaction instrument feature through the use of a PIN

code corresponding to said transaction instrument feature.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said transferring funds step

comprises electronically transferring a predetermined amount of funds from a second account associated with said transaction instrument feature to said

first account.

5. A method for regenerating a prepaid phone card having a first

account associated therewith, comprising the steps of:

electronically connecting a calling party, using an integrated transaction

card, to a host computer having a database;

transmitting an account number and/or personal identification number from said calling party to said host computer;

transmitting from said calling party to said host computer indicia of an

amount of funds to be transferred from a transaction instrument account to

said first account;

validating the account number and/or personal identification number;

and,

transferring the amount of funds from said transaction instrument

account to said first account in response to said validating step.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said validating step is performed

by said host computer accessing information stored in the database

corresponding to said transmitted account number.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said integrated transaction card

comprises at least one of a debit card, a credit card, and a prepaid

transaction card.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said information includes an

identification number and an expiration date of said integrated transaction

card.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of:

electronically connecting said calling party to a destination telephone

number after said transferring step.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of:

storing said account number, personal identification number, and

expiration date in said database prior to said connecting step.

11. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of:

storing said account number and said personal identification number in

said database prior to said connecting step.

12. An apparatus for regenerating a prepaid phone card having an

account balance comprising:

means for electronically connecting a calling party using an integrated

transaction card having a transaction instrument and a prepaid phone card

with a host computer and a third party; and,

means for transferring funds from the transaction instrument to the

phone card.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further including:

means for warning the calling party when the prepaid phone card is one

minute from reaching a fund value of zero.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 further including:

means for validating the transaction instrument, wherein the transaction

instrument is a debit card, a credit card, or a prepaid transaction card.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the transferring means

transfers a predetermined amount of funds.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 or 14 wherein the warning means,

validating means and transferring means is a host computer and the

connecting means includes a keypad, an input/output modality, a local exchange carrier, a communications link and a plurality of incoming call trunk.

17. An apparatus for regenerating a prepaid phone card having an

account balance comprising:

means for electronically connecting a calling party using an integrated

transaction card having a transaction instrument and a prepaid phone card to

a host computer having a database;

means for transmitting an account number and/or personal identification

number to the host computer; means for requesting an amount of funds to be transferred from the transaction instrument to the phone card;

means for validating the account number and/or personal identification

number; and,

means for transferring the amount of funds from the transaction

instrument to the prepaid phone card.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the means for validating is a host computer capable of accessing information stored in a database

corresponding to a transmitted account number.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the transaction instrument is a

debit card, a credit card, or a prepaid transaction card.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the information includes an

identification number and an expiration date of the transaction instrument.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising:

means for electronically connecting the calling party to a destination

telephone number after the transferring step.

22. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising:

means for storing the transaction instrument's account number, personal

identification number, and expiration date.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the storing means is a

database.

1 24. A method for recharging a prepaid phone card having an account

2 balance comprising the steps of:

3 decrementing said account balance of said phone card at

4 appropriate intervals during the duration of a call connection between a

5 calling party and a called party;

6 transferring funds to said phone card from a transaction

7 instrument associated with said phone card without requiring said calling

8 party to identify said transaction instrument during said call connection; and

9 updating said account balance of said phone card in accordance

l o with said transfer of funds.

1 25. An integrated transaction instrument having a first side and a

2 second side comprising:

3 a prepaid telephone card on said first side comprising an access

4 telephone number for accessing a prepaid telephone service provider and an

5 authorization number for accessing an account database at said service

6 provider;

7 a transaction card for purchasing various services or products on

8 said second side; and means for associating said transaction card with said telephone

card so that funds may be transferred from said transaction card to said

telephone card without requiring a user to enter a source of said funds.

26. A computer system for transferring funds between a transaction

instrument and a prepaid telephone card comprising:

an incoming call trunk for connecting to a calling party using said

prepaid telephone card;

an outgoing call trunk for connecting said calling party to a

desired telephone number; an account database for storing an account balance associated

with said prepaid telephone card;

a memory for storing data identifying said transaction instrument;

a central processing unit configured to input from said calling

party an amount of funds to transfer to said prepaid telephone card, retrieve

from said memory data identifying said transaction instrument, transfer funds

from said transaction instrument to said prepaid telephone card without

requiring said calling party to identify said transaction instrument, and update

said account balance of said prepaid telephone card in accordance with said

transfer of funds.

27. An article of manufacture comprising a computer useable

medium having computer-readable program code means embodied therein

for adding funds to a prepaid telephone card having an account balance, the computer-readable program code means in said article of manufacture

comprising:

means for transferring funds to said prepaid telephone card from

a transaction instrument associated with said prepaid telephone card without

requiring a prepaid telephone card user to identify said transaction instrument

at the time of said transfer of funds; and

means for updating said account balance of said prepaid

telephone card in accordance with said transfer of funds.